NCJ Number
178957
Journal
Social Justice Volume: 24 Issue: 4 Dated: Winter 1997 Pages: 39-55
Date Published
1997
Length
17 pages
Annotation
This article studies fear of crime among working and lower middle-class Latina teenagers.
Abstract
The article studies the impact of victimization and fear of crime on a group of Latina teenagers residing in urban and suburban areas on the East Coast. It examines the coping mechanisms that Latina teenagers use to deal with such fears and their views about law enforcement agencies. The major argument is that Latina teenagers’ fear of crime is associated not only with variables traditionally correlated with fear of crime--gender, race, age, and socioeconomic status--but also complementarily with their feelings of identity. Many Latina teenagers are immigrants or daughters of immigrant women; they live in a country that they may not see as theirs, and some have difficulties with the English language. These factors, together with the sense that government agencies are not responsive to their plight, may contribute to their sense of vulnerability, heightening their attitudes toward crime. Notes, references